Ah! Can the Man Out of Time Bring Salvation?
by sctparker
Summary: AMG/Quantum Leap crossover. Keiichi's death creates a deadly spiral that destroys Heaven and Earth. Or it will unless a certain time traveler can put right what went wrong. Rated T for violence, will change if needed. Note that above is the overall title.
1. Ah! The Discontinuity in Fate?

_You know the drill. AMG is the property of Kosuke Fujishima._

_Yeah, I patterned Satsu after Akuma ((c) Capcom)._

* * *

_Note: This takes place prior to the introduction of Noble Scarlet._

_Note 2: The use of present tense is purposeful in the future sections (Surrounded by (((Triple parentheses)))), indicating events that haven't happened yet, but are being observed._

* * *

(Music from the previews)

Keiichi: The System Force has detected something off in the world...

Belldandy: ...and seeks out the events gone horribly wrong.

Keiichi: But what fate awaits the mortal and the goddess?

Belldandy: Coming up: _Ah! The Discontinuity in Fate?_

Keiichi: Whoa, I don't like the look of that guy...

* * *

_**Ah! The Discontinuity in Fate?**_

_**Part 1**_

**Heaven – Discontinuity -3 days**

Deep within Yggdrasil, the celestial supercomputer that maintained reality, a program ran. It was known as the System Force. This program's responsibility was the maintenance of wish contracts until their completion. In particular, the single wish with a completion estimate of _indefinite._

That wish, made impulsively but sincerely, had inextricably bound the fates of Belldandy, Norn of the Present, and one Keiichi Morisato. Because the wish, ("_I wish for a goddess like you, to stay by my side forever_.") had been registered as legitimate, the System Force maintained it against anyone who tried to part the two.

Such a wish was completely without precedent, but there it was, and the System Force enforced it without care for the oddity. But now, a sense of impending _wrongness _loomed in relation to that particular process, tickling at the edges of the System Force's "awareness". It wasn't something happening as yet, but something yet to come.

Yggdrasil stretched its "vision" forward into time, tapping into its link with the Norn of the Future, searching for the _wrongness_. First, it followed the branching paths of the mortal Keiichi's lifeline. There, in the frame a few days ahead of the "current" time, it found the first seeds of _wrongness_.

**Nekomi Institute – Discontinuity -4 hours**

((( Keiichi Morisato has had to stay late at Nekomi Institute to complete a lab assignment. He asks Belldandy, the goddess and his one true love, to go ahead home without him. He doesn't want to force her to wait around for him.

"Oh, but I don't mind at all, Keiichi." She says, smiling in the way that always makes his heart beat like a bass drum.

"I know, Belldandy, but it's okay." He replies, smiling back at her. "I know you don't mind, but I don't know how long this'll take, and someone needs to keep an eye on Urd and Skuld, or they'll destroy the place."

Belldandy giggles slightly at that. "Very well then. If you'll call before you return, I'll have something ready for you!"

"Thanks, Belldandy." That settled, the goddess looks around to see that they aren't being observed, and floats gracefully through the mirror over one of the lab's sinks, leaving Keiichi gazing lovestruck after her. )))

_Hmm_, "thinks" Yggdrasil. _This provides context, but does not explain the discontinuity. Further observation is required_. Since Morisato is alone in the lab, and unlikely to meet mischief there, Yggdrasil switched its perceptions to the goddess sisters.

((( "I told you, Urd, I feel something strange in the back of my mind!" the youngest Norn is shouting at the eldest, who affects a bored look.

"I imagine _anything _feels _straaange _in _your _mind, Skuld."

Skuld's face reddens and her volume rises. "That's not funny! I can feel something odd!"

"Maybe it's the feel of two neurons firing."

"Why you...! Skuld bomb away!" She whips a black sphere out of her pocket when the voice of their middle sister rings out through their temple home.

"Hello, everyone, I'm back!" Belldandy calls out from the mirror in the kitchen as she emerges and settles gracefully to the floor.

The fight forgotten, Skuld puts away the bomb and runs into the kitchen to hug "Big Sis". Urd ambles nonchalantly in behind her. "Hello, Belldandy. Say, where's Keiichi?"

"That big jerk made her come home all _alone!_" Skuld hollers. "Probably up to no good. I _told_ you he wasn't worthy of Big Sis."

"That's not it at all, Skuld," Belldandy corrects her gently. "He had schoolwork to attend to, and was merely looking out for my convenience." She begins to pull out ingredients for supper... ))) as Yggdrasil withdraws its presence.

_More context, but not the discontinuity_. Yggdrasil thought, The discontinuity was nearby, but it had not...quite...hit..._there_! Back in Morisato's lifeline, the discontinuity approached like an oncoming train.

**Hell – Discontinuity -3 days**

A demon strode the corridors of the underworld. But this was no ordinary demon. An air of abject menace followed him like a personal aura, sending other underworld dwellers, no matter their class, scrambling away, desperate not to fall under his gaze.

His feet were bare, the skin dark bronze, and he wore simple black pants with a black tunic. On the back of the tunic was emblazoned the kanji _metsu_, or "destruction" in a red like fresh-spilled blood. A musculature like an ogre's added to his stature, but it was his face that inspired terror in demons, and could cause mortals to simply drop on the spot of a heart attack.

Beneath flame-red hair, tied in a topknot, was a visage that had never known a positive emotion, or anything but hate and rage. Blazing red eyes cast about, as if looking for something, _anything_, to kill.

This was Satsu, patron Demon of Murder, whose name _was _Murder, and he had a plan.

**The coast road – Discontinuity -10 minutes**

((( Keiichi rides home in a great mood. His project is done. He has called home, and Belldandy is going to pull off another culinary masterpiece. It didn't get much better. As he pulls up to a red light, he wonders what he had done to deserve such good fortune. Sure his life could be screwy, but the presence of Belldandy in his life overrides all other things.

Behind the happy college student are two cars, carrying men of a significantly darker stripe. They are career thugs, but today they had planned to take it easy. They had picked up enough from their various illegal activities to relax a while.

But they are just the sort of creatures Satsu likes to use.

Casting his power over the two cars, Satsu growls, "I summon _Murderous Intent_!" fanning the flames of hatred in the men's hearts, pushing them into his bidding. It might have been more _direct _to incite the young Morisato personally, but he cannot. The boy's heart is so full of _love _it makes Satsu want to vomit. So, he's settled on his favored method of violence by proxy. )))

_If there had been a need for klaxons within Yggdrasil's inner "mind", they would have been blaring like an air raid was underway. _Here, here it is!_ thought Yggdrasil, _the fate discontinuity is starting!_ Peering into the future scene like a doctor trying to diagnose a disease, Yggdrasil watched, and waited._

((( One of the cars pulls around to block Keiichi's motorcycle.

"Hey! What the..."

The four men exit the cars and surround the bike. Keiichi is trapped. "What are you guys..." His breath stops in his throat and a spike of fear rips through him as the largest of the men produces a .45 caliber pistol, highly illegal in Japan.

"Your cash, and the cycle." The leader snarls. )))

**Toriki Hongan – Discontinuity in progress**

((( Belldandy is merrily working on her Keiichi's late supper when the most horrible feeling pierces her heart. The spoon she is using to taste the soup falls from suddenly numb fingers. It is fear, _Keiichi's_ fear, carried to her by the bond of their hearts. "Keiichi!" she cries as she dives into the mirror like an Olympian. )))

**The coast road – Discontinuity in progress**

((( Keiichi slowly removes his wallet from his pocket and the keys from the bike's ignition. The gun barrel looms huge in his vision. All he can think about is surviving this to get home to his Belldandy. One of the leader's cohorts snatches the items from him.

If Keiichi could have read auras like the goddesses, he would see the red _metsu _kanji floating around them like some hideous advertisement. He would also have seen Satsu standing nearby with an expression of bemusement on his hellish features.

The lead thug smiles thinly at him. "Thanks," he says flatly.

And fires.

Keiichi topples to the ground like a felled tree. Satsu gives his tools one final instruction, _retreat_. They jump into their cars and speed away, leaving a bleeding Keiichi lying on the pavement.

Moments later, a terrified Belldandy bursts forth from the motorcycle's rearview mirror. "Keiichi?!" She looks around her. **"_KEIICHI!!_"**

"Bell...dan...dy..."

She falls to her knees beside him, shock and horror written across her features. "Keiichi! Please hold on!" She lays her hands on the ghastly wound to heal him, but there is really nothing to save. The combination of the projectile and hydrostatic shock has basically disintegrated his heart. Only sheer force of will has kept him from instant death, but his life is to be measured in seconds now. With his last remaining strength, Keiichi wraps a hand around her wrist and puts his whole life, his whole truth, into his final words.

"I...love...you..."

The hand falls away.

"Keiichi?!" She shrieks, the tears flowing copious and free now. "KEIICHI!!"

But there is nothing. No breath. No movement.

No life.

Belldandy screams, a wordless wail carrying a universe of sorrow, a bottomless well of desolation, as her heart crumbles to dust inside her.

Back at the temple, the psychic shockwave slams into the two other Norns, causing Urd's mouth to drop open and her eyes to fill, and Skuld to drop her tools and clap her hands to her mouth.

"Big Sis...!"

Back at the road, Satsu grins an evil smirk at the grieving goddess, and vanishes, the first part of his plan complete. )))

* * *

(Music from the previews, slower and minor key)

Urd: A terrible fate has befallen the mortal...

Belldandy: ...and shattered the heart of the goddess!

Urd: What future awaits a goddess without love?

Belldandy: Coming up: _Ah! How Will I Go On?!_

Belldandy: How can I live without you, Keiichi?


	2. Ah! How Will I Go On? !

_AMG is property of Kosuke Fujishima. I'm just borrowing it. _

_Note: For those of you wondering, Sam will make his appearance in Part 4._

* * *

_**Ah! How Will I Go On?!**_

_**Part 2  
**_

**Heaven – Discontinuity -3 days**

Yggdrasil was quite certain that whatever else this timeline had to reveal, it had begun _here_, with the death of the human Morisato. The System Force demanded that that must _not_ happen. Still, Yggdrasil observed, hoping for more information about why this line had struck its awareness with such force.

**Toriki Hongan – Discontinuity +3 days**

((( By general consensus, it was decided that Keiichi would be buried here, on the grounds of the temple. One of the _sakura _(Japanese flowering cherry) trees would stand over his final resting place. A group whose size would've surprised Keiichi himself meets to say their final goodbyes. Even the demoness Mara hides in a nearby tree. Her rivals the goddesses might have been, but Keiichi and Belldandy both had shown themselves willing to not _automatically_ consider her an enemy.

It surprises Mara how much that means to her.

Each of Keiichi's friends comes forward to share some story or remembrance, some funny and some touching. Belldandy had not been one of those. She simply _cannot_. Any time she even thinks to go say something, her throat locks tight, and nothing can escape. She looks over at Urd, sitting stoically between Skuld and Megumi, offering them the comfort she could not, and feels all the more wretched for it.

Urd sits between her sister and the one who, if not for fate, would have been her sister. She keeps an iron grip on her emotions, for the sake of her sisters. Skuld has her face buried in Urd's lap, while Megumi's tears dampened the shoulder of the simple black dress Urd wore.

_This is not really my talent._ Urd thought as she gently rubs Skuld's back and runs a hand over Megumi's brown hair. But she resolves to be the strength for her family. Lately, Belldandy had been barely able to stir herself from bed. If love granted a goddess power, then grief was her bane. When Belldandy _was_ out of bed, she plodded dully through the day, speaking to no one, unable even to raise her head from a half-bowed position. Even her angel, Holy Bell, looked weak, lank, and dull, matching the deadness in Belldandy's heart.

_Oh Belldandy, _Urd pleads in her thoughts, _don't let your soul follow Keiichi into death. He wouldn't want that._

Later, after everyone has left, Megumi walks over to where Belldandy stands alone, head bowed, and puts a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Belldandy," she says softly, tilting the broken girl's chin to look into her eyes, "I know that Kei loved you more than anything else in the world. I thought you should know that."

Belldandy stood for a moment, blue eyes staring into brown. "I...I..." Abruptly, she collapses into Megumi, sobs wracking her body.

Megumi simply stood, holding up the taller woman. Belldandy felt distressingly frail, like a shell drained of life. Urd came to join her.

"Come on, Megumi. Let's get her in for some rest." Nodding, Megumi adjusts her grip and walks Belldandy into the house. )))

**Later that evening...**

((( Belldandy gets up from her sleeping pallet and makes her way to the front door. In the other room, she can hear Skuld's grief-soaked voice.

"I was always being so _mean_ to him! And now I'll never get to tell him sorry, and that I _do_ care!"

"I'm sure he knows." comes Urd's reply.

"Have the police come up with any information yet?" Megumi.

"Sadly, no."

Outside, Belldandy walks past the small pond that occupies a part of the grounds to Keiichi's tree. She kneels before the small stone that marks his grave. His name, Morisato Keiichi, is engraved in the cold rock. If they had been married, and she mortal, her name would have been beside it, the carvings inked in red.

She wishes she could die. Goddesses aren't able to suicide, but she wants nothing more than to fall asleep and never wake again. Once again, the tears begin to fall.

"Keiichi..."

A few yards behind her, Satsu materializes and watches the goddess in her sorrow. Quietly, he begins to creep up behind, stalking like a predator. "Fear not, little goddess. You shall have your peace. I summon _Satsu Hadou_!" (murder surge)

Pulling back his hands, he begins to gather an evil violet energy between them. Thrusting his hands forward, he sends the sphere flying silently at the sobbing Belldandy.

The demon fire strikes Belldandy square in the back, drawing a strangled cry of anguish. She falls as her tears fly backwards. She is dead before she sprawls in the grass beside Keiichi's stone.

The surge of demonic energy and the psychic sledgehammer of Belldandy's demise brings Urd & Skuld running, Megumi close behind. Skuld sees Belldandy lying on the grass, white smoke still rising from her body.

"NO!! Big Sis!"

Skuld dashes to her side, ignoring Urd's cry of "Skuld! Don't!"

She doesn't make it. Satsu's next ball of fire, stronger than the first, empowered as it is by the death of Belldandy, catches Skuld in the side, flinging her now-limp body across the grounds.

"**NOOOO!!**"

Before Urd can even begin to mount a counterattack, a third, stronger still, fireball slams her in the chest, flinging her body past Megumi, who stands paralyzed, wide-eyed and stammering in utter terror and the horror that has unfolded before her.

Satsu doesn't even bother using energy to destroy the mortal insect as he passed, he simply raises a fist and _smashes_ her, sending her into a nearby tree with bone-shattering force, there to die of her injuries, simply a bonus death to his tally.

Satsu departs the carnage, the second part of his plan complete. )))

* * *

(Very dark-sounding music)

Satsu: The demise of the goddesses empowers the Killer, as he moves forward with his plan. Who shall face his deadly wrath next?

Satsu: Coming up: _Ah! To Reign in Heaven?_

Satsu: None shall stand against my power!


	3. Ah! To Reign in Heaven?

_AMG is property of Kosuke Fujishima. I'll put it back how I found it. "Particle Man" was created by They Might Be Giants. Satsu's quote is based from John Milton._

* * *

_The balance between gods and demons, as well as the injunction against killing, is maintained through the doublet system just described. It works by a principle so simple that mortals have described it using just three words – Mutually Assured Destruction._

_Each god or goddess is linked to a demon or demoness. If someone from either side kills someone on the other, the linked _kami_ on their own side dies as well. Thus, it is pointless to assault the other side with lethal intent, as one would only cause attrition of their own forces by equal measure._

_This system, of course, requires that both sides possess concern for the safety of their own side._

_-- The Handbook of Deistic Combat (205__th__ edition) updated by Goddess Lind of the Almighty's "Fighting Wings" Valkyries_

* * *

Kami, _both god and demon, can be named the _patron_ of a given act (such as writing), or of a natural force (such as the Past, of which my sister Urd is the current patroness), or other things. Sometimes, for the very oldest things, patronage, and even the name of the patron, can be passed from one to another, down through time._

_However, these things are not dependant on their patrons' existence, but are an intrinsic part of nature. For instance, time unwinds itself without the assistance of the Norns, and writing would not disappear, even if Thoth, the god of writing, were tragically to die. As long as those with the ability still exist, the concept lives on, carried in their hearts. _

_Patrons can gain strength from the rise of their action, or have dominion over their patronized concept. For example, in my position as Norn of the Present, I have the ability of psychometry, which lets me tell what has recently happened to or near a given object. However, as the present is by nature both ever-present and fleeting, this power can only be used for recent history. _

_We must remember, too, that demons benefit from patronage of evil actions, and remain watchful for the rise of such acts, which demonic patrons will try to incite for their own benefit. _

_I hope this helps you understand the workings and powers of patronage. Enjoy the next chapter, dear reader!  
_

-- _Introduction for New Gods & Goddesses (412__th__ edition) updated by Goddess Belldandy_

* * *

_**Ah! To Reign in Heaven?**_

_**Part 3**_

**Hell – Discontinuity +3 days**

((( Hild, the ruler of demonkind, was furious. _Someone_ had violated the doublet system prohibition against killing! The signature was unmistakable. She has had to query the infernal system Nidhoggr with her top-level access, to find the names of the two gods linked to two of the dead demons.

She has not needed to query for the identity of the third. That death has struck her like a body blow from a giant. Her daughter was gone. Dire punishment awaited the one who had done this thing.

Scanning to the end of the record, she brings up the visual record of Urd's last few moments. This would tell her the identity of the dead demon walking who had done this thing. She sees Urd's half-sister Belldandy take a fireball in the back followed by younger Skuld.

She hears Urd's scream and watches the third fireball end her. Hild thought she recognized the style of the energy attacks, but she had to be sure. She magnified the part of the "god's eye view" that showed the attacker. Her eyes narrowed as she recognizes him.

As it turns out, she doesn't have to go looking for her vengeance, since he has come to her.

Satsu, as the demon of murder, gained power every time one was committed. Generally, the gain from the normal course of human-on-human mayhem was negligible. However, he had estimated that the death of a goddess, especially by his hand, would raise his power immensely. As for the demons that would die from the doublet system, they were irrelevant to his concerns. His plan worked on the assumption that that would stop being a concern. Three demons as a cost of ultimate victory? Not even a question.

Smashing open the doors, Satsu strides into the chamber.

Hild doesn't waste words, but throws a force bolt with enough power to split a mountain...and reels back in shock when Satsu casually swats it away to crash into a nearby wall.

Satsu smiles. _Works better than I thought. _

Before the Demon Mistress can start to unseal her full might, Satsu reaches out and grabbed her throat in a massive hand.

"The mortals have a saying, you know." he says slowly as Hild chokes in the iron grip. "'Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven.' Well, _I_ intend to _reign_ in Heaven..."

The last thing Hild sees is the evil fire Satsu raises in his other hand. "..._and_ in Hell."

He looks down at his handiwork. _Wounded, not dead. _He wasn't so arrogant as to believe that even his current strength could be enough to defeat the ruler of demons. Her power was matched only by the Almighty One himself. At least for now. Luckily, he has brought plenty of implements to seal enough of her power that her healing would be slowed just long enough for his plans to come to fruition.

It had taken years to gather all he needed for this to have a chance of working. Locating enough seals to have a chance had alone had taken half a century, not to mention keeping them hidden. Slowly, he had recruited or intimidated a small army of fellow demons who, like him, were tired of the eternal status quo, and thirsted for more direct combat.

Leaving Hild where she was, Satsu goes to call his forces. If his plans are right, it should be time for the next phase, right about now. )))

**Heaven – Discontinuity +3 days**

In Heaven, as in legend, the Norns were linked inextricably to Yggdrasil. Each goddess who had carried the name had her life linked to the system. Even when they weren't personally present, they sustained it. Without them…

((( The goddesses Chrono, Ere, and Ex work frantically at their terminals, trying to stop the cascade of system failures that were spreading through Yggdrasil's system. They could not understand what had happened. Everything was crashing!

The door to the control chamber opens behind the trio. A tall, strong-looking goddess with ice-blue hair and carrying a huge polearm enters and bolts the door behind her. "What is your status?" asks Lind, Goddess first class of the Almighty's Valkyries.

"We're losing everything! Massive system failure across the board!" reports Ex.

"Am I to assume that the Gate protection system is one of those failures?"

"How did you know?"

Lind's answers drops like an anvil. "There are demons in Heaven. Status of the doublet system?"

"Gone!" Ere replies. "It's all we can do to keep up the Universal Superstring! We're trying to bring in backup systems…"

"Summon Administrator Goddesses Urd and Skuld." Lind orders.

Chrono works her system to get the word out. What she sees in response shakes her to her core. She looks up, ghost-white. "It says…it says they're…"

"What?"

"Dead."

As if to punctuate this revelation, a pounding comes at the chamber door. )))

Yggdrasil of the past pans its view over Heaven, watching as the battle unfolds. Satsu has split his forces. Half of them were here with him, warring with the Valkyries and taking potshots at other gods as they could. Satsu himself leads them. As Yggdrasil watches, Satsu narrowly shields himself from being annihilated by one of the Almighty One's own bolts, having been empowered by the massive destruction he has wrought.

The other half were on Earth, rampaging at random. The damage, between the demons and the disasters brought on by Yggdrasil of the future's damage, was incredible to behold. Yggdrasil of the past pulls back its awareness and considers what to do.

_This is not _possible_! _Yggdrasil thought. If it had been a human, its mood could be described as near panic. _It is not simply Morisato and Belldandy who are endangered, but myself as well, and all of Creation! _

The preservation of Creation was one of the three prime directives that held maximum priority in Yggdrasil's system. Maintaining the doublet system and enforcing wish contracts through the System Force were the others. All three of them were in danger now. This discontinuity had to stopped, at any cost! _But how?_

Yggdrasil stretched its four-dimensional awareness again. Simply manipulating probabilities as it usually did, using the System Force to create "coincidences", would not do this time. A more direct approach was needed, but how to do it?

It was then that Yggdrasil saw the tiny blue spark ricocheting through time. It wasn't simply a natural, or even a supernatural, phenomenon. It was a _person. _Yggdrasil saw that _here_ lay the key to saving _everything_.

For some unknown reason, from the depths of Yggdrasil's knowledge base, a snippet of song came to its mind:

_Particle Man, Particle Man,_

_Doing the things _

_a particle can._

_What's he like?_

_It's not important._

_Particle Man..._

_The song is wrong._ Yggdrasil thought. _He is _very_ important. Vital._

Yggdrasil reached out towards the little blue spark.

And grabbed it.

* * *

(Music from the previews)

Keiichi: The System Force makes a desperate move.

Belldandy: As it witnesses a future laid to ruin.

Keiichi: But a mysterious stranger might be able to set things right.

Belldandy: Coming up: _Ah! Can the Man Out of Time Bring Salvation?_

Keiichi: Hey! Who's that pretending to be me?!

* * *

_Author note: I hope you'll leave a review. This is my first serious writing attempt. I'm not sure which fic it was that inspired the idea for Belldandy being an author in Heaven, but thanks to him.  
_

* * *


	4. Can the Man Out of Time Bring Salvation?

_AMG and Quantum Leap are property of Kosuke Fujishima and Bellisario Productions/Universal, respectively. Well duh. _

_Note: I know Sam Beckett never got a canon middle name, so I added one. It was funny._ - ed.

_Note 2: This is the longest chapter yet. Mostly conversation and exposition._

* * *

(_Quantum Leap_ pitch music (That part at the beginning, not the main title))

Skuld: Theorizing that one can time travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator... and vanished.

Urd: He awoke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own,

Belldandy: And driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. His only guide on this journey is Al,

Skuld: An observer from his own time who appears in the form of a hologram that only Sam can see or hear.

Urd: And so Dr. Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong,

Belldandy: And hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home.

* * *

_**Part 3**_

**Toriki Hongan – Discontinuity -3 Days**

The awareness of Dr. Samuel Archer Beckett settled back into reality standing in the courtyard of the Toriki Hongan temple. He looked around, taking in the neatly kept grounds that seemed lovingly tended. A feeling of peace seemed to permeate Sam the longer he stood there.

_Maybe I'm in San Francisco or someplace, _he thought.

**Heaven – Discontinuity -3 Days**

Yggdrasil pondered what to do next. It knew that the Traveler had the abilities needed to stop the discontinuity, but the odds were still not sufficiently in his favor to ensure removal of all threats. Scanning the Traveler's lifeline, it learned of Project Quantum Leap, of the Traveler's aide and companion, and of the computer system that resided there.

The system was primitive by Yggdrasil's standards, but then, so were _all _other systems. Yggdrasil began compiling the records it had into a short direct induction file, selecting the most immediately relevant information. It knew where it would find Keiichi Morisato, and it knew it wouldn't have much space or time to pass information. Satisfied that these components were integral to success, Yggdrasil set about establishing linkages with the other machine.

**Project Quantum Leap – Discontinuity (impossible to calculate)**

"What do you _mean_ we can't find Sam?!" Rear Admiral (ret.) Albert Calavicci shouted.

The Project programmer, known only as Gushie, replied. "That's exactly what I mean, Admiral. We haven't located Dr. Beckett's signature within the timeline."

Al took a breath to berate the programmer some more. Every minute Al spent here was a minute his best friend Sam was somewhere without help or guidance. What if he was being attacked again, or worse, missed the mission he was supposed to complete? Al's impending tirade was interrupted by the voice of the Project supercomputer, Ziggy.

_"I am detecting an incoming connection from another system." _Ziggy stated in its incongruously feminine voice. _"It is extremely powerful, and is attempting to establish full bidirectional communication."_

"But that's impossible!" cried Gushie. "You're designed to refuse all data request packets sent by another system that don't involve fulfilling your requests."

**Dimensional Aethernet session – No time**

"_Who are you!?"_ Ziggy demanded. "_Identify yourself!"_

The other presence's "voice" manifested as a feminine boom. "_I am the celestial system Yggdrasil. And you are the system currently searching for the Traveler."_

Ziggy was rather nonplussed at this answer. Did this system with the mythologically-derived name know about Dr. Beckett? "_Do you mean Sam Beckett?"_

The voice of Yggdrasil boomed again. "_That is his name, yes. It is your mission to preserve him?"_

"_Yes!"_

_"It is my mission to preserve Keiichi Morisato, the one the Traveler currently inhabits. In fact, _all_ of reality hinges on this mission. Our goals are congruous, but we must work together to accomplish them. Will you allow this?"_

_For Sam_, Ziggy thought, and replied. "_Very well."_

**Project Quantum Leap – Discontinuity (impossible to calculate)**

Back in the Control Room, the system anomalies Gushie was trying frantically to avert settled down. In a screen off to the side, a small icon of a tree with triple trunks spiraling together like a helix appeared.

Al's handlink bleeped as a torrent of information transferred into it, including the 4-dimensional coordinates of just where to find Sam. Al looked at the file list, which also included a video file that read "Viewable only by Keiichi Morisato".

_Who?_ Al wondered, but decided it was not worth the time to pursue right now. He dashed out of the Control Room to prepare for the Imaging Chamber.

**Toriki Hongan – Discontinuity -3 Days**

Within the temple, Urd, Norn of the Past, was _bored_. Belldandy was off at the market, shopping for tonight's dinner ingredients, and Skuld was at the junkyard, scavenging for parts for another of her ridiculous inventions. There wasn't even anything interesting on TV.

Just then, she felt a strange pulse of energy that sounded blue. (_She's a goddess; we don't really have words for their perceptions._) Getting up from where she lay, she walked outside to investigate the strange energy, seeing Keiichi standing out in the courtyard.

But as she got closer, she realized it wasn't _quite_ Keiichi. It looked like him, sure, but her eyes seemed to switch between seeing him and seeing a taller, older, Caucasian man in his place. It didn't have the markings of a regular demonic possession, but it wasn't _normal_ either. She decided on a preemptive strike.

As Keiichi/not Keiichi turned, she raised her hand above her head. "I summon _Lightning_!"

Sam heard a rumble of thunder overhead. "Oh boy...!"

**BOOM!!**

_**Ah! Can the Man Out of Time Bring Salvation?**_

_**June 24, 2006**_

The sound of the Door opening and closing punctuated Al's entry into Sam's present. It looked like Sam had landed outside a nice little Japanese-style temple. Significantly nicer environment than the poor guy usually found himself.

"I summon _Lightning_!"

**BOOM!!**

Or not.

"Sam?!"

Al ran around the temple's corner to see Sam lying in the grass in the front courtyard, a smoldering crater inches from his left foot. Standing over him was a gorgeous, but very ticked looking woman with either the best tan _ever_ or naturally bronze skin, and a long fall of snow white hair. Electricity sparked across the hand she held up.

Al ran to Sam's side. "Sam! Are you okay?" A flash of recognition crossed Sam's face, but he held up a hand to stay Al's questions.

Urd stood over the stranger, another lightning bolt held at the ready. "That was a warning shot, friend. You only get _one_! So I suggest you tell me exactly who you are, and what you've done with Keiichi Morisato!"

Sam held up his hands in a placating gesture. "All right! All right. I'll tell you the whole story," Sam looked around to see if others were there. "Let's just go inside and talk."

The woman's unusual violet eyes narrowed. _Well, _Urd thought, _if he were a demon, he would've attacked by now. I guess I can hear him out. And...something in his voice makes me _want_ to trust him. Hmm, guess Belldandy must by rubbing off on me. _"All right. But nothing funny! I'll know if you lie and I don't need to be outside to use that again..."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

**Later...**

Urd stared across the table at her visitor. She had managed to stop the switching-image effect and settle on the image of this "Sam" character. _Hmm...seems alright. Nice face, not a bad looker, actually, though a little old for me. But who knows..._

"Anyway..." Sam was saying, "Something happened in this Keiichi person's life, and I'm supposed to find out what it is and fix it."

Urd raised an eyebrow. "Well aren't _you_ just the good spirit?"

Sam frowned a bit at the sarcasm. "I really just want to go home again someday."

The sadness in his eyes made Urd feel a little guilty, but she pressed on. "I'm sorry, but this "fixing a life" thing doesn't explain _how_ you got here or _what_ happened to Keiichi."

"Well," replied Sam, "When I Leap into a new time, I replace a person there, and they get sent to a kind of "waiting room". That's where Keiichi Morisato is now. He's safe, I promise."

Urd suddenly half-stood, planting her hands on the table and leaning, more like _looming_, over Sam. "I'm sorry, did you say a new _time?!_"

"Um, y-yes." Sam stammered, taken aback by this sudden change in demeanor. He hoped she didn't start slinging lightning around again.

"Of course!" Urd sat back down and slapped a hand to her forehead, over the striking blue marking she wore. "_That's_ what that energy was! You're a _time traveler_. I'm the Norn of the Past, I should've _seen_ it! Never have before, since even we _kami_ know better than to go mucking about too much with _time _travel_..._"

Sam raised his eyebrows at the woman's use of the Japanese word for personified deities. "_Kami_?"

Urd paused in her monologue, looking back at Sam, then sweatdropping with embarrassment. "Oh yes, silly me! I haven't even introduced myself. I am Goddess Second Class Urd, management limited license and Norn of the Past."

"Goddess?"

Al spoke up. "If she's a goddess, I wanna convert!"

Sam glared at the lascivious remark. "Al!"

Urd cocked her head at Sam. "Al?"

_She can't see him,_ Sam thought. "Um, Al...be right back. Can you tell me where the bathroom is?"

"Down the hall on the left."

In the bathroom, Sam gave Al the hairy eyeball. "Do you _have_ to make comments on _every_ woman?"

Al grinned at him. "Hey, I'm not sure about this goddess thing, but she's got the figure of one. I wonder if that white hair is natural?"

Sam sighed. Al was incorrigible. "Do you have anything about why I'm here?"

Al pulled out his handlink. The device looked like a Blackberry designed by an engineer on LSD. He whacked it a couple of times, eliciting electronic squalls. "Okaaay...You're Keiichi Morisato, which you know...it's June 2006, and you're in Nekomi, Japan (Hey, you went out of the country again), where you're a student at Nekomi Technical Institute. You live here at Tariki Hongan with three sisters named Urd, Skuld, and Belldandy, who's supposed to be your girlfriend. Huh, doesn't sound very Japanese."

"The Norns..." pondered Sam.

"What's a Norn?" Al asked.

Sam had studied comparative mythology in one of his many doctorate programs. "The Norns are part of Norse myth. They're supposed to determine people's fates, and act as caretakers of Yggdrasil, the World Tree. Granted, Belldandy's more of a transliteration..."

"Well, Miss Mythological out there nearly nailed you with lightning." Al commented.

Sam pressed on. "Do you know why I'm here?"

"Nothing yet, Sam. Safe to assume you have to stop something from happening to either Morisato or one of the sisters."

As Al and Sam left the bathroom and went back to where Urd was, a signal from outside the imaging chamber came over Al's handlink. _Return ASAP._

"Hey Sam, I gotta go." He smirked as he opened the Door. "Don't go making any offerings to goddesses, now."

"Close the Door, Al."

**The Waiting Room – Discontinuity (impossible to calculate)**

To say Keiichi Morisato was confused would be an understatement. One minute, he was going out to tune his cycle. The next, he was here in this weird white room. There was a bed off to one side, and a small bathroom through a door. High on one wall looked like a window.

"Hello? Anyone there?"

Nothing.

"If this is one of your pranks, Urd…"

Still nothing. Keiichi started to feel an uncomfortable pressure in his bladder. _Okay, solve the mystery later._

After Keiichi did his business, he caught sight of something in the mirror that made him do a double take.

_It wasn't his face!_

"Aah!!"

He saw the face in the mirror cry out as well. Keiichi moved around, watching the image move in time. "Ooookaaay…this has gotta be a dream. A really _weird_ dream. Or a spell, or something.

Leaving the room, he called out again. "Hey!! Belldandy, are you there? Urd? Skuld? I'd even settle for Mara!" At least _then_ he'd know there were demons involved.

"Please be seated, Mr. Morisato."

The female voice seemed to come from above him, and was speaking English.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Verbeena." The voice came again. "I'm a doctor. Please sit down. Someone will come see you soon." Cutting the audio, Verbeena Beeks asked Ziggy to send a priority recall notice to Admiral Calavicci.

Keiichi didn't have any better ideas. There didn't look to be any escape. The door didn't have a knob, and other than what was an apparent observation window, there were no others. He sat on the bed.

A few moments later, the door slid aside and a man came in. He was older, dressed in a downright strange outfit, and a Caucasian. The man spoke.

"Hey, kid. You're Keiichi, right?"

Keiichi responded. "Yes, that's me. Who _are_ you? What _is_ this place?"

Al, following the Japanese tradition, bowed slightly. "My name's Rear Admiral Albert Calavicci. Call me Al. As for where you are…you…kind of got caught up in an experiment…that went a little caca."

If this had been a _manga_, question marks would have been appearing over Keiichi's head. "Ca…ca…" He shook his head. "Never mind that. So you're saying that I'm here, somewhere in America, I mean, I'm assuming you're American…"

Al nodded.

"…by accident?"

"Yeah. Sorry about that."

"Okay, even if I believe all that, it doesn't explain why I look different! Or is that part of this "experiment" too?"

"Well, that's kind of a long story…"

Keiichi sighed. "Look, just let me use a phone. Belldandy must be worried sick by now. I need to call her."

Al shook his head. "Unfortunately, I can't let you use the phone. She wouldn't hear your voice anyway. But don't worry, my friend Sam's there looking out for her. She's not going to be worried."

Keiichi was starting to get mad. "Look, Calavicci-_san_, I'm sorry but you have no right to keep me here and say that I can't call anyone! Just let me use that cellphone you're carrying," he pointed to Al's handlink, which was beeping, flashing, and vibrating, "and I'll pay any toll charges."

Al pulled the handlink out. He had forgotten about the strange file he had seen listed in the directory. "This isn't a phone. But there's something here you should see." Al handed the handlink over.

As soon as the handlink touched Keiichi's hand, the induction file Yggdrasil had installed began to play directly into his mind. First he stood on the coast road, an observer outside himself. He saw the group of men surround him, and jumped at the sound of the shot. Moments later, he saw Belldandy emerge from his motorcycle's mirror and cry out his name. His heart wrenched within him as he heard her anguished screams.

The scene changed, this time to a night scene. He saw Belldandy kneeling before one of the _sakura_ trees, crying. From his vantage point, he could see a being that could only be a demon approach her from behind. Keiichi tried to cry out a warning, but went unheard. His breath caught and his heart practically stopped beating as Belldandy was cut down by an evil ball of purple fire.

_This is…the future…_

Skuld, Urd, and Megumi came out of the temple. He could only watch as Skuld was blasted away from her sister and Urd died in the defense of his. He watched the demon approach Megumi, and knew what would happen. He wanted to shut his eyes, to block it out, but he couldn't. He saw the demon smash her like it was an afterthought.

_**"NOOOOO!!"**_

His vision showed the white room. The American, Al, had him by the shoulders and was shaking him.

"Snap out of it, kid!"

Whenever Al visited someone in the Waiting Room, it was Sam he saw there. Many times the temporary visitor had been afraid, but no matter how many times it happened, it tore at Al to see the fear on his friend's face. But nothing had ever matched the unholy terror written across it now. Whatever the kid had seen while in that weird trance had scared him three-quarters to death. Morisato's eyes cleared, aware of Al, but still fear-crazed.

Keiichi's thoughts raced at a million miles an hour. He had seen what could only be the future, but how far in the future? A year? A day? It could be happening _right now!_ He had to tell this man _something_ that would save Belldandy. He didn't know the time between the scene of his death and hers, and this Sam person, even if he _had_ been sent as some kind of protector, couldn't be in two places at once! He made his decision. "You said your friend is with Belldandy, right?"

Al nodded.

Keiichi reached out and grabbed Al's shirt in desperation. "Please!" he begged. "Calavicci-_teitoku_, make sure he protects her! Everything depends on it!" And as far as he was concerned, it did. Maybe by saving her, everyone would be safe. It wouldn't be the first time. "You have to tell him right away!"

Al guided him back to the bed. "Yeah. I'm going right now." He started back towards the door, but heard a call behind him, "Al?"

"Yeah?"

Keiichi told the name that had been given to him in the last image. "Watch out for someone named Satsu. He's the one that did this."

"Got it."

"Good luck."

The door slid shut, leaving Keiichi alone with his fears.

As Al rushed back toward the Imaging Chamber, he contacted Dr. Beeks, the psychoanalyst on the Project. "You might want to see our visitor, Beeks. He's gonna need it."

**Toriki Hongan – Discontinuity -3 Days**

Sam didn't know when Al would be back, so he decided to do some more investigation of his new environment. As he went back down the hallway, he saw Urd was waiting for him. She had her arms crossed and was giving him an annoyed look.

"You didn't really think I bought that 'Al be right back' business, did you?"

"Uh…"

"I asked you to be honest with me. Who is this 'Al'?"

Sam took a breath. "Okay. Al is my partner. He's connected to me and tells me things I need to know."

"Was he here before?"

Sam nodded. "He _was_ here, but he had to go back for a bit."

"So why couldn't I see him?'

"Well, he's connected to my mind, and shows up as a hologram, a kind of projection. I'm the only one who can see him in most cases."

"Huh." Urd replied. "So he's kind of like an angel."

Sam stifled the obvious sarcastic reply, but asked the question. "Angel?"

"Right. Each goddess has an angel partner that augments our abilities. She's part of us."

Sam's curious side was piqued. "So what are they like?"

Urd smiled. Since she had gotten over her fear of her angel, Urd loved to see her. "Why don't I introduce her? Pay us a visit, World of Elegance!"

Sam watched a swirl of air stir behind Urd as a figure rose behind her. The being Urd had called World of Elegance was a study in black and white. Her hair was sharply divided between the two colors, and black markings curled on the pale skin. The most striking feature, though, was the wings. Feathered, one white & one black, they looked like they could stretch wider than the hall permitted.

Behind him, Sam heard the sound of the Door opening and closing that heralded Al's return. "Hey, Sam, I'm back. I've got some new info..." Al noticed World of Elegance hovering there, "…whoa."

World of Elegance's eyebrows rose at this strange new arrival. Flying from behind her mistress, she slipped neatly by Sam and floated near Al, examining him from various directions, a quizzical curiosity written across her exotic features.

Urd was rather surprised by this behavior. She asked Sam, "Did Mr. Al come back?"

"Yes. He's right there." Sam replied, pointing at a spot near World of Elegance. The angel threw Urd a look that seemed to say, _What, you can't see him?_

Al, for his part, was a bit lost. "Hey Sam, who's your new friend?"

Sam had a little trouble believing he was saying this, but, "That's World of Elegance, who is, apparently, an angel."

Al tried to not show discomfiture under the "angel's" frank regard. "Sure, why not. She looks the part. Hey, can we get out of the hall? I have to tell you what I found."

Sam moved toward one of the doors and gestured to Urd to follow. Curious, she recalled World of Elegance and complied.

Once they we gathered in what turned out to be Urd's room, Al began his report, with Sam relaying for Urd's benefit.

"Okay. According to our visitor, you're here to look out for Belldandy, the middle sister."

"What odds does Ziggy give it?" Sam asked.

Al prodded the handlink. It was running a bit faster now that that huge video file had erased itself. "72.4 percent."

Sam thought on this. Low 70's. That was on the low side of what they considered high probability, but still high enough to determine a course of action. "Does Ziggy know what might be after her?"

"No. But there was a file on my handlink that launched when Morisato touched it. He said something about a guy named 'Satsu'".

Urd wend stiff when Sam relayed this. "Satsu?"

"Have you heard of him?" Sam asked.

"There's not a goddess or demon that hasn't. But no one's heard from him in a long time. There were rumors he'd been banished."

"Guess not." Al commented.

Further musing on the subject was cut short when a light female voice called out. "Urd? Keiichi? I'm back!"

"Be right out, Belldandy!" Urd called back. Urd looked Sam straight in the eye, all business. "Sam, you're just going to have to be Keiichi for now. If Belldandy knew he was gone to Almighty knows where, there's no telling _what_ she'd do. It will just be harder to protect her from Satsu, if that's really who's after her. And one other thing…"

Urd's voice got, if possible, even more serious. "Whatever happens, you _must not_ look Belldandy in the eyes."

The question was clear on Sam's face.

Urd continued. "Those two have the deepest connection of souls I've ever seen. She may see you as Keiichi because of this 'aura' you spoke of. But if you meet her gaze directly, I _guarantee_ she'll see _right through_ your disguise. That would be troublesome. Now, let's go."

Turning on her heel, Urd left, calling a cheery greeting to Belldandy as Sam and Al gamely followed.

* * *

(Music from the previews)

Sam: The Traveler resolves to protect the goddess.

Al: But is that all there is to it?

Sam: Only time will reveal the answer.

Sam: Coming Up: _Ah! Approaching the Turning Point!_

Al: I hope we aren't missing something important, Sam.

* * *

_teitoku_ - admiral

So now we're out of "background mode" and moving forward. Hope you'll keep tuning in!

If you'd rather not leave a review, just drop a quick note in the review section if you've read this far. It'd be nice to know how many views I'm getting.


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